Berlinde De Bruyckere: Khorós

Abstract

This book documents a major exhibition by acclaimed Belgian artist Berlinde De Bruyckere (b. 1964, Ghent) at Bozar-Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels. De Bruyckere's powerful sculptures, installations, and drawings set out to embody the world's great stories. Drawing from the legacies of the European Old Masters and Christian iconography, as well as mythology and cultural lore, De Bruyckere is known to layer existing histories with new narratives, hereby creating a psychological terrain of pathos, tenderness and repulsion. The volume highlights a rich blend of her earlier and newer works, interwoven with dialogues featuring artists as diverse as Lucas Cranach, Peter Buggenhout, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Patti Smith. An original essay by Gary Carrion-Murayari delves into De Bruyckere's oeuvre, likening this convergence of voices to a khorós - the chorus central to Greek tragedies - emphasising collective human experience and emotion. With an essay by Gary Carrion-Murayari and texts by Selen Ansen, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Ory Dessau, Katrien Driesen, Joaquim Oliveira Caetano and Patti Smith.